Many motor vehicles, particularly sport utility vehicles and minivans, are equipped with rear seats that can be moved from a seating configuration, in which passengers can sit in the seat, to a so-called “load floor” configuration where the back support of the seat is folded downwardly to assume a horizontal orientation and thereby facilitate cargo stowage. Typically, locking mechanisms are provided for holding the seat in the seating configuration, and the locking mechanisms can be released to permit moving the seat to the load floor configuration.
One example of such a design is U.S. Pat. No. 6,089,641, assigned to the assignee of the present invention and hereby incorporated by reference. This patent teaches a passenger vehicle seating arrangement in which the second and third row seats fold down to form a cargo carrying platform.